


Lovely Boy

by Loki_ate_my_pudding



Series: Stefan is cute (Colin agrees) Colin is cute (Colin disagrees) [3]
Category: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018)
Genre: Anxiety, Cute Colin, Cute Stefan, Fluff, Sickness, sick Stefan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-26 01:20:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17736323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loki_ate_my_pudding/pseuds/Loki_ate_my_pudding
Summary: Stefan is sick , Colin helps him feel better(Not at all anything like how Bandersnatch was. It’s just purely happy fluff that the boys deserved)





	Lovely Boy

When Stefan woke up with a massive headache, spreading from the back of his head to the front, his first response was to turn his head right back to the pillow. Colin was out of the bed, probably making breakfast like he usually did on Wednesday mornings. 

He had a reason, but it couldn’t come to Stefan’s mind as he groaned slightly into the soft material beneath his face. 

It took him a few seconds to motivate himself to get out of bed, dragging his feet to the bathroom and squinting as the light shined on him. He opened the cabinet, snatching his medicine, popping two with a quick sip of sink water. 

He went down the stairs, still internally groaning about the pain in his head. He was convinced it was just a tension headache, it’d go away in an hour or so, after he’d had time to wake up and calm down from whatever had him stressed. 

Colin was, in fact, making breakfast for them. The older male stood tall infront of the stove, flipping a slice of French toast on the skillet while he whistled The Cure to himself. “Morning, Colin.” 

“Morning, Stef!” Coli grinned. He was definitely the morning person Stefan wished he could be. He always felt groggy and off in the morning, but Colin was always up and managing to style his bleach blonde hair, zip his trousers, and sip his morning tea at the same time. “How you feelin?” 

A plate of French toast and fried eggs was put in front of him, a smile on Colin’s face. He was so excited for the day in the morning. Stefan never understood why. “Tired. I have a headache, too, but I’ll live.” 

“Hmm. Take any Panadol for it?” Colin asked, pouring him a glass of grape juice and sliding it toward him as he sat with his own food. 

“Nah. It'll be fine in an hour or so.” Stefan shrugged. Colin only nodded in response, starting to eat the food. Stefan did too, and he loved it, like always. Colin was an amazing cook, though he didn’t like to admit to it. He loved it, but he still felt off after finishing his plate. 

He finished getting ready like every other morning, only with a headache instead of feeling good. His muscles felt sore, a little worse than usual. Stefan should’ve just told Colin he was going to take a day off at home, that he didn’t feel quite good and would rather not stare at a split screen with his boyfriend for seven hours. 

But he didn’t, and he found himself sitting beside Colin at their joint desk, focusing as best as he could on the game infront of them. It was their first project together, though Thakur and the public was excited beyond belief over it. Two amazing game creators, Colin Ritman, AND Stefan Butler, working together on one game. It was meant to be better than MetlHead, Nohzdyve, And Bandersnatch combined. 

Thakur knew it’d be good. He’d care less if he actually believed it’d be done by September and the game would be stocked for Christmas, but instead he found himself looming over the boyfriend’s while they typed away at the code, pointing out mistakes on the game. He reminded them endlessly about the deadline, which was months and months away, but he couldn’t have them cutting it short again. They’d both done it. Colin with one of his first games, had passed it over at Ten to midnight. 

 Stefan watched Colin’s fingers type away at the keyboard and his head just pounded worse, his muscles aches more, he felt so wrong in that moment. “Colin, did you bring any panadol? Or happen to have any?” 

“Maybe, why? Your head still bothering you?” Colin asked, grabbing his bag from under the desk. He sorted through it while he waiting for Stefan to answer. 

“Yeah. It’s just getting worse, and my muscles feel all achey and sore.” Stefan said softly, rubbing his temple with his fingers. He had a frown set deep on his face, squirming slightly in the chair. “My stomach is bothering me too. I just feel off.” 

Colin frowned, reaching over a bit and feeling Stefan’s forehead with the back of his hand. His expressive eyebrows furrowed, the frown deepening. “You’re pretty warm. Maybe you should head home for the rest of the day, Stef.”  

Stefan shrugged, taking the extra strength  panadol Colin had set on the desk and popping two of the pills dry. “Maybe if I don’t feel better in a bit. Think it’s probably just a cold coming on.” 

“Stefan, really. Just go home for the day, I’ll be there at four, a bit early, okay? Come on, you look right awful, love.” Colin said, diverting his eyes to the screen. “I’ve got this to work on, once I’ve finished this code and the next I’ll be home.” 

Stefan sighed, not wanting to leave Colin to work on their game alone. It was meant to be the two of them, not just him. He wanted to interject, but the set in stone face had already been settled on Colin’s features. Surely he’d never let Stefan stay at work if the younger was feeling sick. He hated that. 

He grabbed his bag, kissing the top of Colin’s head with a quiet goodbye as he left. 

Stefan collapsed on the couch the moment he got home, feeling sweat drip from his forehead and chills run though his body. He couldn’t remember if he’d locked the door as he curled up on the couch, yanking a blanket over him even though every movement hurt his aching limbs. 

His mouth felt dry as he swallowed, trying to ease his nausea as best as he could, eyes squeezed shut. Stefan felt endlessly worse than he did when he’d woken up, his head was pounding harder now, and tagging along were all headache’s nasty friends, the chills, fever, aching muscles, and horrible stomach ache. 

Stefan felt like a child again, coming home sick from school with a nasty case of the flu he’d caught from some ignorant child who’d sneezed too close to him without covering his mouth. He always hated getting sick more than anything. 

Time seemed to move slower than ever as he breathed through his mouth to calm himself down as panic rose up next to bile, making his tummy tingle in an uncomfortable way. He prayed to whatever god there was that he couldn’t throw up, he hated throwing up with a burning passion. 

God wasn’t on his side though, as he rushed himself to the nearest restroom and collapsed on the cool tile floor, letting himself vomit into the white porcelain. 

He stayed there for what seemed like hours until he heard someone come through the door. Stefan knew it was Colin and wanted to get up to Great him, to assure him he wasn’t too sick and he was okay, but there was no point in lying when he couldn’t even get off the ground. The cold tile felt too nice against his feverish skin and his body hurt too much. 

“Stefan?” Colin called, worry lacing his name as he looked around the living area of the apartment. The couch had obviously held a restless Stefan, but Colin couldn’t tell how long ago. “Where are you, love?” 

Stefan felt disgusting and embarrassed as he tried to lift himself into a sitting position on the floor, plastered ridiculously against the tile like a child throwing a temper tantrum. “In here.” He called back. 

The bathroom door budged a few inches a moment later, Colin’s bleach blonde head peaking into the dimly lit room. He instantly shoved through he door, getting on the floor beside Stefan. “Oh, Stef, are you alright? What the fuck happened?” 

“Sick.” Stefan mumbled back. “Tile felt nice and I couldn’t get back up once I was down.” 

Colin’s hand was on his forehead again, the worry on his features making Stefan feel nothing but guilt as he pushed himself up. “Let me get a thermometer. You’re insanely hot, Stefan, I don’t think the panadol even helped at all.” 

Colin stood, grabbing the thermometer from one of the cabinets, pressing the padded button to urn it on. Stefan watched his wish glossy eyes, feeling hot and cold at the same time. It was weird that all he could think about was how cute Colin was. 

The metal tip prodded at his lips, coaxing him to open his mouth and allow it to slip under his tongue while Colin held the other end. It beeped a few moments later and Colin pulled it out, the frown still set on his face. 

“Let’s get you into bed. I’m gonna try to get your fever down and if I can’t I think I have to take you to the hospital, Stef.” Colin said, slipping his arm around Stefan’s waist and helping him stand up. “You need to rest.” 

Stefan let him guid him to their room, relishing in the joy of their soft bed against his sweaty skin. “Col? ‘M sorry I took time off work for this.” 

“Stefan, don’t worry about it. You’re really sick, I wouldn’t want you to stay there in this condition.” Colin said, kissing his hot forehead. “I’ll be right back, love.” 

He disappeared for a few minutes, coming back with a washcloth and a bowl of water, a few ice cubes floating in it. Stefan winced ahead of time. 

He never understood why it bothered him so badly when he had to put a cloth on his forehead to bring down a fever. It should feel relieving, but instead it felt like a chore of sorts. He felt like he could never turn to his side, hated the way the cold water slid down his face.

Colin carefully wrung it out before putting the folded cloth on his head, and Stefan shut his eyes and nearly squirmed at the feeling. He resisted every urge to wipe the cold cloth away. 

“I know it sucks, Stef, but just keep it there for a little, alright? In half an hour I’m gonna check your temp again and if it hasn’t gone down we’re gonna have to do something.” Colin said softly. He slipped into the bed next to Stefan, putting the bowl on the nightstand and carefully pulling the smaller man’s head to rest on his lap. 

Colin’s fingers ran through Stefan’s sweaty (and now water-damp) hair soothingly, his other hand resting on his chest. Stefan shut his eyes, trying to let the actions calm him down and let him feel even slightly better. 

“You can sleep, love. I’ll be here when you wake up.” Colin said softly, and Stefan only nodded slightly. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to. 

He wasn’t quite asleep, in more of a semi-conscious haze for the next half hour, feeling Colin rubbing his head gently and every now and then, taking off the cloth and replacing it with a new round of cold water against his skin. It didn’t make him flinch in the haze he’d fallen into. 

After a while, he felt Colin moving carefully to get up. He opened his eyes now, looking at him with confusion. “I’m going to get the thermometer to check your temperature, Hun.” He explained, slipping from the room. 

He came back a few moments later, and Stefan let him stick the metal under his tongue with more ease than before. He felt a very slight bit better after the hazy nap. 

“It’s gone down a little bit. Good. You can go back to sleep if you’d like, hunny?” He kissed the top of Stefan’s nose, capping the thermometer and setting it on the bedside table by the bowl of now room temperature water. “I’m gonna go get some ice for this, and keep that cloth on your head for a while longer. You’re due for more panadol too, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” 

He was true to his word, returning with new ice water and two capsules of panadol with a bottle of water tucked under his arm. 

After Stefan took the medicine, he leaned back up against Colin, resting his head against his boyfriend’s chest. Colon didn’t seem to mind the cold cloth that brushed against his skin, only wrapping his arms around Stefan. “You’re gonna get sick.” He mumbled against his skin, eyes looking up a bit. 

“And you’d take care of me just like I am with you, love. Now rest, you need it.” 

And Colin was right, Stefan would take care of him just like he’d done. 

He slept soundly through the night, not waking up until the next morning, and the bed wasn’t empty like it usually was. 

“Morning, sleepy head.” Colin greeted, smiling softly at Stefan. The cloth was gone, forgotten in the bowl of water, and he felt crazy better. “You feeling better?” 

“A lot, yeah.” Stefan replied, nuzzling closer to Colin. “Sorry.” 

“No need to apologize.” 

And if Colin ended up with the same sickness a day later, Stefan felt “I told you so” formulate on his tongue, but as he cared for Colin, he could’ve said the same exact thing to Stefan. 


End file.
